This morning, stopped in to grab a coffee. There was a guy sitting down across from me reading "On Liberty" by JS Mill. Anyway we struck up a conversation. Turns out he's done writing a book on (I forget the actual title) Muslim history of discontent or something like that.

Anyway that's not the fun part. Turns out this guy used to be a spy! Well, he worked for the Dept. of Intelligence on assessing the Soviet threat in the 70's and 80's. He got laid off when he the USSR imploded. In a sense, his job cost him his job. Pretty cool, next time I see him maybe he'll tell me a few stories.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

Yes, Kuan, I never cease to be amazed at the stories of people I meet. Most of the time we don't often take the time to really talk to people we come into contact with. When we do, the results are often pretty amazing.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

I'm cooler. I look like a a Russian mobster and drive a monster car... Hey, we were supposed to be at the gym. If it were not for me bailing, you would have never met this fella'.

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'07 Yukon 2500
'13 Subaru Outback 3.6R
'13 Orbea Carpe 9-speed

Currently Benzless
Formerly: 300TD, S600, E55, 560SEL

---= The forest breathes, listen.
-Native American elder

Glock in the glove compartment, just to finish off the image.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

I work with a guy who worked for DIA in the 1960's. He mapped Afghanistan in the early 1960's (based mostly on travel journals and old British maps) and the Ho Chi Minh trail, based on extremely hi res film cameras. He was an analyst who helped prepare intel for White House BDA briefings. Was occasionally questioned by White House brass, but was never around for the formal briefings. Those were done by people who didn't understand the source. We wonder if that's still the case (not to go into politics, please).

Curiously, we've been working on a bootlegged project (ie, no funding and work as time and resources permit) on acquiring imagery of the Mekong River delta. Today he got word that we hit the mother lode -- photography from the 60's and 70's. Now we're discussing seeking legitimate funding to essentially look at long term environmental impacts of Agent Orange and other policies.

Some years ago, about 10, I had a friend in the next town over who used to be a CIA assassin. Obviously he didn't talk much about it but but he was in the process of writing a book when he died of lung cancer. His wife later told me that he really was an assassin and that she was going to try and get the book published in a few years.